Hawaii

By Dave Donnelly

Tuesday, December 30, 1997

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For fed info,
it’s 1-800-688-9889

HAVE you tried to call the federal government using their toll-free information line? Sorry, but you can't get there from here -- to the surprise of few, you'll reach a dead end if you try. The toll-free 800 number listed in the phone book for locating federal agencies -- 1-800-733-5996 -- doesn't work from Hawaii, something that was a surprise to operators at Hawaiian Telephone when asked about it. "But that's the number printed all through the phone book!" said one operator. According to spokesperson Keith Kamisugi at HawTel, the number was changed after the book was printed and there's no way to forward calls. The new number will be listed in the next phone book. In the meantime, the new toll-free federal information number -- write it down! -- is 1-800-688-9889 ...

THIS hasn't been a great time for Hawaiian Telephone. Former TV anchorman Bob Sevey tried to call me from his home in Seattle, but didn't have my number at hand, so he called information. "We have no listing," he was told. He trudged downstairs, retrieved my (published) number, called and informed me, "You no longer exist." He was calling to see how the memorial service for our mutual old pal Sam Sanford went Saturday. At the beachside service for the longtime isle D.J. and restaurateur, I read a letter addressed to him which Sevey had written and e-mailed to me. Recalling the times when telegrams used to be sent by people who couldn't be at an event, another ex-isle D.J., Ron Jacobs, was impressed. "I've never been to an e-mail funeral," he said. Then, as one, we said, "Welcome to the '90s."

Fine dining mix

AMONG those stopping by Alan Wong's to sample his cuisine over the Christmas holidays were TV producer Gary Marshall and his family who holiday each year at the Kahala Mandarin. Also popping by between games in the Rainbow Classic was basketball great Jerry West, sampling cuisine with a touch of the East. Dining there twice was actress Tia Carrere and her family, who still make Hawaii home. And yet another visitor to the restaurant was Bart Araujo with his wife Daphne, a local girl, celebrating the fact their 1994 Araujo "Eisele Vineyards" Cabernet Sauvignon was chosen as the No. 4 wine in the world by Wine Spectator magazine ...

SPEAKING of basketball greats, it's a trey for Star-Bulletin sports editor Joe Edwards, whose Rainbow Classic attendance was curtailed somewhat when wife Jaymi (nee Claybaugh) gave birth to Jake Alika Edwards, their third child in something under three years. Fittingly, Edwards handed out "The Repeater" cigars to his stogie-smoking associates ... Hawaii Business magazine, under new editor Floyd Takeuchi, has taken on a new look. It now resembles Newsweek magazine, both inside and on the cover ...

This is Luxor-y?

HOLIDAYING in the islands are former Hawaii radio station owner Bob Wilson and wife Marjorie. They now live in Aspen, but continue to make visits here over Christmas and enjoy the party scene. The two had what was a pretty harrowing experience recently. They had left their cruise ship to make a trip to Luxor, Egypt, on the very day the massacre there occurred and mass murders were committed. So did they stay on the ship? "No, we continued on and saw what we came to see," said the remarkably calm Mrs. Wilson. And the Wilsons report that in Luxor via yet another cruise ship the day before the massacre was local resident Betty Ho. I think she had the better timing ...